Succeeded by

Distinctions

Notable members

The Hylians, also known as the Hylia people, are a recurring race in the Legend of Zelda series. Creatures that worship the goddess Hylia, from which their name derives, the Hylians are the original race of Hyrule. It is said that they were created by the Goddesses Or Oocca race. Physically, Hylians resemble humans, and the only difference appearance-wise between them is the Hylians' long, elf-like ears that supposedly enable them to hear special messages from the goddessess. It is shown that Hylians have an extended life-span, to the point of living for centuries. Their heritage also gives them unique psychic and magical abilities. The Hylians have therefore given birth to many heroes through the ages, most notably Link.

It seems that aside from their magical abilities, the Hylians also possess a degree of superhuman strength as Link in The Adventures of Link, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword have shown. This seems to however, be limited to physically fit Hylians who have matured to some degree.

In the early part of Hyrule's history, Hylians were the dominant and most populous of the general humanoid races, as shown in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In the Adult timeline, the bloodline began to thin, and Hylians were replaced by humans as the most widespread humanoid species, becoming increasingly rarer by the time of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; however, the majority of the Great Sea's inhabitants are still of Hylian descent. In the Child Timeline and Fallen Hero Timeline, it seems that the Hylians and Humans are about the same amount.

Terminan Hylians

Hylians in Majora's Mask are often called "Terminans" by fans; however, this is technically incorrect. "Terminan" could apply to anyone from Termina, including other races such as Gorons, Zoras, Deku Scrubs, etc. So-called "Terminans" seem different from the Hylians in Ocarina of Time, such as being more technologically-advanced, but this by no means implies a different race. The Hylians in Termina do not refer to themselves as Hylians or Terminans, but as humans. Since Termina is an alternate world to Hyrule, and the goddess Hylia is only known to appear in Hyrule, its inhabitants may have never known the term Hylian. It is interesting to note that none of the Terminan Hylians seem to use magic, implying they ether have no need to or just incapable of doing so. Of course it is possible that they can use magic, however do not rely on it as much due to their technology.

Lorulean Hylians

The parallel world of Lorule from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is also inhabited by Hylians or their Lorulean equivalent. Like the Hylians of Hyrule and Termina, they have pointy ears as well as psychic and magical abilities, though their eye and hair colors are darker than their Hyrulean counterparts such as the case of Lorule's Princess Hilda who has dark purple hair and red eyes which differs from Princess Zelda's blonde hair and blue eyes. Ravio is also shown to have dark purple hair as well, though he has brownish-yellow eyes. Princess Hilda and Ravio are notable examples of this type of Hylian as they are the counterparts of Princess Zelda and Link. In some cases, the differences between counterpart are more striking such certain counterparts being opposite genders such as the case of Hyrule's Shady Guy and Lorule's Thief Girl. Due to differences in history between Hyrule & Lorule, some Hylians lack a Lorulean counterpart such as Gulley, as the Lorulean Blacksmith and his wife have no children. In fact, none of the Seven Sages seem to have a Lorulean counterpart.

The Lolians also are shown to be darker (though not outright evil) or possess a personality that is the opposite than their Hylian counterpart. For example, Ravio is a coward which is the opposite of Link who is courageous, while Princess Hilda demonstrates a willingness to do whatever is necessary to restore her kingdom, to the point of plotting with Yuga to steal Hyrule's Triforce and manipulating Link in order to obtain his Triforce of Courage, while failing to realize Yuga desired Triforce for himself and had no desire to save Lorule, showing she lacks wisdom. Along with Hilda's actions, the Lorulean Royal Family of the past is shown to be willing to take extreme measures to protect and/or preserve their kingdom, such destroying their Triforce to end the civil wars it caused, only to bring chaos and ruin to Lorule due to its destruction. Ironically, Hilda's desire to steal Hyrule's Triforce is the reason her predecessors choose to destroy their Triforce. This shows that Lolians (specifically members of the Royal Family) can be rash in times of strife or conflict, causing them to overlook less extreme alternatives or failing to see their good intentions can lead to negative results. However it is unknown whether some of these negative traits are a part of their nature or a result of the destruction of their world's Triforce had caused them to lose all hope. However as shown by Ravio, it is possible for Lolians to be noble and even rise above their negative traits, as while Ravio originally unable to confront Hilda over her plans to steal Hyrule's Triforce, he chose to go to Hyrule in disguise and assisted his counterpart by providing him with items and Ravio's Bracelet which protected Link from Yuga's magic. Though his interactions with Link, Ravio comes to have a better understanding of himself and even gains enough courage to confront Hilda and ultimately convinces her to see the error of her ways. He is also shown to possess great wisdom as he manages to see through Yuga and understood the noble reasons the Royal Family of Lorule chose to destroy Lorule Triforce in the first place and even saw the irony of Hilda's desire to steal Hyrule's Triforce.

It is also shown that some Lolians possess abilities or traits greater than their Hylian counterparts, as the Blacksmith of Lorule is able to re-forge the Master Sword Lv2 into the Master Sword Lv3, something that the Blacksmith of Hyrule admits are beyond his capabilities. Also after the Master Sword Lv3 is forged, the Lolian Blacksmith's Wife apologizes to Link for her earlier crabby behavior after being reminded of why she married him, stating that Link had helped remind her of the good in people, indicating that the Lolians may have once been more positive.

Hylian Knights

The Knights of Hyrule can be traced back to the academy of knights in Skyloft. They are the ancient knights protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule. During the Imprisoning War, most of them were killed. They did however, become prominent again in the Child Timeline. Apparently, only descendants of the Knights of Hyrule can wield the legendary Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword. This further hints that each Link is related to one another.